1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to impact devices, and more particularly, to an impact tool for performing different surgical functions in various different surgical procedures and for performing various different industrial functions.
2. Description of Related Art
As can well be appreciated, the instruments a surgeon uses while performing a surgical procedure are of the utmost importance. Ease of use, reliability, and operating precision are important features of these instruments.
When performing surgical procedures, such as orthopedic procedures, the surgeon often uses several instruments that each perform a different function during the procedure. In a procedure, such as a hip replacement operation for example, the surgeon first typically removes the head of the femur. Once the head of the femur is removed, the surgeon may use an osteotome for hollowing out the medullary canal of the femur, to form a cavity in the bone, to prepare the femur for receiving the replacement femoral component. Once the cavity is suitably prepared, an appropriate medical adhesive, such as a liquid acrylic cement, is disposed in the cavity, and the replacement femoral component is disposed in the cavity to affix the component to the femur.
If the purpose of the hip replacement operation is to supplant a failed replacement, the surgeon may further use a gouge and chisel along with the osteotome. The gouge and other instruments are used to remove residual adhesive from the cavity, due to the preceding hip replacement, to prepare the cavity for the new femoral component.
Additionally, these and other instruments are used for a number of different purposes. For example, another use of chisels is to remove bone spurs. Another instrument that is used by orthopedic surgeons is a surgical pin inserter. The pin inserter may be used by the surgeon for inserting surgical pins that facilitate the fixation of fractured bones. The pin inserter is also used to temporarily couple guides to various bones, such as securing guides to the tibia or femur during a knee replacement procedure. Also, when a hip replacement operation is supplanting a failed replacement, guides can be employed when affixing the new femoral component to the femur.
Common to each of these instruments, is that an instantaneous force has to be applied to the instrument, to cause the instrument to function. The force causes the instrument to deliver an instantaneous impact to a desired object, such as a portion of bone or a pin, for performing the desired function, such as cutting bone or inserting the pin. Known medical methods usually require the surgeon to strike the instrument with an appropriate device, such as a hammer, to cause the instrument to momentarily impact the object.
As can be appreciated, it is substantially difficult to manually strike the instrument with a consistent, optimal impact force, which can result in either an excessive or insufficient impact force being applied to the object by the instrument. To inhibit an excessive force from being applied to the object, the surgeon often repeatedly strikes the instrument with a force that is somewhat less than sufficient, which often results in the procedure taking longer than is necessary. A further disadvantage of using a hammer to induce an impact, is that the surgeon must operate both the hammer and instrument. Thus, the surgeon is not afforded one-handed operation of the instrument.
To increase the speed with which the desired implement delivers successive impacts, a pneumatic power source may be coupled to the instrument. However, a disadvantage of using pneumatic power, is that the instrument rapidly and repeatedly impacts the object, causing the instrument to be somewhat difficult to control.
It therefore would be advantageous to provide a means for enabling an instrument to deliver an impact to an object with an optimal force and in a controllable manner.
Additionally, during performance of any of the above discussed surgical procedures, or any one of several well known procedures, it is often necessary to affix and remove surgical aids, such as the surgical pins, that are temporarily secured to a patient's bones for securing guides to the bones to facilitate performance of the procedure. Also, sometime after performing any one of the above discussed surgical procedures, or any one of several well known procedures, it is often necessary to remove surgical aids, such as the surgical pins, that are temporarily secured to a patient's bones to facilitate fixation of the fractured bones.
However, common to installing these surgical aids, it is often difficult to remove these aids and other devices, particularly in a controlled and efficient manner. It therefore would be advantageous to provide a means for facilitating removal of these and other devices that are temporarily affixed to a patient's bones, or other portions of the patient's anatomy.
Punch tools are well known in the prior art. Punches are used for a number of different applications, such as making shallow indentations in metal work or breaking glass. For example, a center punch can be used to make a shallow indentation in a portion of sheet metal, to prepare the metal for accurately drilling openings therethrough at predetermined positions. Punches are additionally used by emergency personnel to break vehicle windows and other appropriate purposes.
A center punch tool typically comprises a hollow steel body with a steel tip that extends through an end of the body. The tip is usually configured with a conical end portion for impacting a desired surface. A loaded spring is retained in the body, with release means coupling the spring to the tip. The body may have a handle coupled to the spring, to adjust for light or heavy strokes of the tip.
In use, the conical end of the tip is pressed against a surface to be impacted by the center punch. As the tip is pressed against the surface, the tip is forced into the body. As the tip is pushed into the body, upon reaching a determined point in the body, the release means causes the spring to instantaneously propel the end of the tip into the surface, to momentarily impact the surface, thus indenting or breaking the surface struck by the tip.
A disadvantage of known punch tools is that they are not well suited for a number of different industrial uses. A further disadvantage of known punch tools is that they are not configured with means for coupling different implements thereto.
There, therefore, exists a need for an impact tool for performing different surgical and industrial functions that delivers an impact to an object with an optimal force and in a controllable manner and is capable of applying an instantaneous extraction force to an object to effect removal of the object from a surface in which at least a portion of the object is imbedded.